The Deerslayer (Wordsworth Classics) - Softcover

Cooper, James Fenimore

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853265527 ISBN 13: 9781853265525

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics, 1998

Synopsis

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Deerslayer is the culmination of James Fenimore Cooper s Leather-Stocking novels, featuring Natty Bumppo (the deer-slaying young frontiersman) and the Mohican chief, Chingachgook. Cooper portrays the hubris of the conquest of a vast territory. The action takes place during the American wars of the 1740s. Natty and his friend Harry attempt to save a trapper and two young women, whose floating fort on Lake Glimmerglass is besieged by the ruthless Iroquois. The tension steadily increases to the point at which a cruel outcome seems inevitable. The exciting action, the romantic potentialities and the knowledgeable evocation of frontier life (with its moral and racial conflicts) have made this novel a perennial favourite. The courageous Natty, with his problematic values, has set the precedent for countless American heroes. Culturally, The Deerslayer has proved to be a powerfully influential work.

About this title

From the Publisher

The deadly crack of a long rifle and the piercing cries of Indians on the warpath shatter the serenity of beautiful lake Glimmerglass. Danger has invaded the vast forests of upper New York State as Deerslayer and his loyal Mohican friend Chingachgook attempt the daring rescue of an Indian maiden imprisoned in a Huron camp. Soon they are caught in the crossfire between a cunning enemy and two white bounty hunters who mercilessly kill for profit. The last of the Leatherstocking tales to be written, though first in the chronology of the hero's life, The Deerslayer is James Fenimore Cooper's masterpiece. A fine combination of romance, adventure, and morality; this classic novel of the frontier is an eloquent beginning for Cooper's great wilderness saga--and an unforgettable introduction to the famous character who has said to embody the conscience of America: the noble woodsman Deerslayer.

From the Inside Flap

Set during the French and Indian Wars, The Deerslayer vividly captures the essence of both the murderous humanity and the natural beauty that distinguished America's founding. The last of Cooper's famous Leatherstocking Tales, it is first chronologically in the frontier adventures of the backwoods scout Natty Bumppo. Amid a terrain largely inspired by Cooper's own boyhood, Natty's initiation in the moral codes of wilderness society is examined in what is, according to D. H. Lawrence, "the loveliest and best" of the Leatherstocking series.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the definitive text established by James Franklin Beard and James P. Elliott, which is the Approved Text of the Center for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wordsworth Classics
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1853265527
• ISBN 13: 9781853265525
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 423